Ithaca, Elmira and Fisher Claim E8 Wins
ITHACA v UTICA
The Ithaca College men's tennis team returned to conference play and returned to the win column with a 9-0 win at Utica on Tuesday afternoon. The match was played indoors at the Turning Stone Sportsplex. Ithaca improved to 5-5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Empire 8 conference. Utica is 0-5 and 0-3 in the Empire 8.
Ithaca picked up doubles victories by an 8-0 score by
Chris Hayes and
Nate Wolf and then an 8-2 win at first doubles by
Wes Davis and
Jack Melhorn. In singles play, Melhorn, Davis, Hayes and Wolf were all victorious.
Charlie Vaca won 6-0, 6-2 at fifth singles.
Ithaca also won at third doubles and sixth singles by default. The Bombers return to action Saturday at nationally-ranked Stevens.
Singles competition
1.
Jack Melhorn (IC) def. Dominick Trimarchi (UTICA) 6-0, 6-0
2.
Wes Davis (IC) def. Matt Rogers (UTICA) 6-1, 6-2
3.
Chris Hayes (IC) def. Jacob Nigolian (UTICA) 6-1, 6-0
4.
Nate Wolf (IC) def. Joe Castellitto (UTICA) 6-0, 6-0
5.
Charlie Vaca (IC) def. Ian Lotz (UTICA) 6-0, 6-2
6.
Brandon Buksbaum (IC) def. No player (UTICA), by default
Doubles competition
1.
Wes Davis/
Jack Melhorn (IC) def. Matt Rogers/Dominick Trimarchi (UTICA) 8-2
2.
Chris Hayes/
Nate Wolf (IC) def. Joe Castellitto/Jacob Nigolian (UTICA) 8-0
3.
Brandon Buksbaum/
Charlie Vaca (IC) def. Ian Lotz/No player (UTICA), by default
ELMIRA v HARTWICK
The Elmira College men's tennis team faced a 3-0 deficit before the first matches even took the court this afternoon, as just four players made the trip to Delhi, NY to take on Empire 8 foe Hartwick College. Despite being just two points from defeat, the remaining Soaring Eagles rallied to take down the Hawks, 5-4, for their sixth straight win and third consecutive conference victory.
Elmira's chances of overcoming the 3-0 hole sunk even lower after the Soaring Eagles split the two doubles matches on the court. EC had swept the three doubles points in each of their last three matches, but after
Austin Mansell '16 and
Chris Konow '18 made it 3-1 with an 8-5 win at second doubles, the Hawks put themselves one match from victory by edging out Elmira's first doubles team of
Keith Bujak '15 and
Satchal Waters '16, 8-5.
Facing a 4-1 match score, EC now had to win each of the four singles matches to pull out the victory. Fortunately, they would do just that, winning all four matches in straight sets to complete the comeback.
First off the court, and making it 4-2, was Waters, who had few issues en route to a 6-1, 6-4 win at second singles. Next to follow was Konow, who won six straight games in the second set to finish off a 6-2, 6-3 victory at fourth singles. Mansell's match went a little longer, but he too would pick up a clutch win, finishing his match at third singles, 6-3, 6-3. For Mansell, his pair of wins extended his personal win streak to 12 matches and he finished the month of March with a flawless 12-0 record. The three victories tied the match score at 4-4, leaving Bujak and his match at first singles as the deciding point. That contest, however, was the most contested match of them all as it was just entering a first set tiebreaker as Mansell finished his win.
Bujak, who had been battling an illness for the last couple days, found himself trailing, 4-1 midway through the first set. He would start to get things going, however, and rallied to force a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Bujak led 3-2 before taking four of the next five points to clinch the first set.
His momentum carried him to a 3-2 lead in the second set, which included being up a break, but his opponent would break him back to level the score. Bujak, however, would get the break back and eventually serve for the match at 5-4. The lone senior on this year's squad would hold serve and seal Elmira's victory.
EC will look to get healthy quickly as they travel to take on No. 24 Stevens Tech this Saturday, April 4th at 2:00 p.m. in Hoboken, NJ.
Singles Competition
1.
Keith Bujak (ELMIRA) def. John Talbot (HC) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
2.
Satchal Waters (ELMIRA) def. Brian Redder (HC) 6-1, 6-4
3.
Austin Mansell (ELMIRA) def. Will Gilbraith (HC) 6-3, 6-3
4.
Chris Konow (ELMIRA) def. Jefferson Monastoque (HC) 6-2, 6-3
5. Liam Brown (HC) def. No player (ELMIRA), by forfeit
6. Sean Coppola (HC) def. No player (ELMIRA), by forfeit
Doubles Competition
1. Redder/Gilbraith (HC) def. Bujak/Waters (ELMIRA) 8-5
2. Mansell/Konow (ELMIRA) def. Brown/Talbot (HC) 8-5
3. Monastoque/Coppola (HC) def. No player/No player (ELMIRA), by forfeit
ST. JOHN FISHER v NAZARETH
The St. John Fisher College men's teannis team has now won three straight matches after recording a 6-3 win over host Nazareth College on Tuesday in Empire 8 action. With the win, Fisher improves to 5-5 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Pat McGrath,
Jacob Zarzycki,
Kevin Kulawiec and
Kyle Stich each contributed two points through singles and doubles play. McGrath and Zarzycki won 8-4 at first doubles, while McGrath also won 6-4, 6-4 at second singles, while Zarzycki took a 6-1, 6-1 win at third singles.
Kulawiec and
Adam Moran gave Fisher a point at second doubles with an 8-3 victory. Kulawiec, a freshman, also recorded a point in first singles.
Stich paired up with
Vichaka Khoy to win 8-3 at third doubles. Stich also won sixth singles 6-4, 6-4.